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Contact or Text Us At | (240) 625-2922
Dream big. Start small. But most of all, start.
A place for entrepreneurs, small business owners, independent contractors, researchers, catering chefs and companies moving into Maryland
Join us for
Hagerstown Startup Week
May 22 - 26, 2023
Hagerstown, Maryland—Registration is now live for Hagerstown Startup Week, an opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect and network with both resource providers and fellow founders. This free, week-long conference brings together Western Maryland’s dreamers, doers, inventors, makers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or new to the community, we have created space for you. Register at www.HagerstownStartupWeek.com.
What We Do
Our Mission
The purpose of the David W. Fletcher Incubator + Labs at Hagerstown Community College is to inspire entrepreneurship and enhance small businesses as the owners learn, leverage and launch into Washington County.
Get a Visual
Our Space
We offer private office suites, wet labs, virtual offices, dedicated desks and hourly access to a commercial kitchen. Spaces can be combined and the amenities are vast.
Who We Serve
Our Clients
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Entrepreneurs
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Small Businesses
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Researchers
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Independent Contractors
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Catering Chefs
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Companies Moving Into Maryland
Learn more
Contact Us
The David W. Fletcher Incubator + Labs team are here to support your business needs. We take pride in helping you navigate the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Washington County and Hagerstown Maryland.
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The mission is to grow economic development in Washington County, by recruiting those in and outside of the county, to start or grow their businesses in the Fletcher Incubator,” said HCC President, Jim Klauber. “We work with these start-ups from day one, to prepare them for graduation and to spin them off to our economic development friends in the city and the county, where they can sustain and grow.
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+40
offices + Wet Labs
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+5
Common Areas
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+2
Conference Rooms
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+2
Kitchen Areas
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+1
Commercial Kitchen
Meet Our Mentors
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Rich Daughtridge
CEO, HighRock
In 2005 Rich Daughtridge partnered with friend and graphic designer Dave Schleigh launch a new marketing firm, HighRock Studios. Together, they assembled a talented team of creatives, marketers, and problem-solvers to work as an extension of our client’s team. As a storyteller and entrepreneur at heart, Rich saw HighRock’s success in launching brands for our clients as a unique opportunity to continue launching new companies, all connected by the marketing, technology, and entertainment industries. In the following years, Rich co-founded several ventures including Warehouse Cinemas, Warehouse Tap Room, Leitersburg Cinemas, Waynesboro Theatre, and LeftBrain Technology. With each new venture, Rich leveraged emerging technologies as the catalyst for success, all with HighRock's foundation in marketing and brand strategy.
While his hometown is Hagerstown, Maryland, his home team will always be the Baltimore Blast, where he played professional soccer for five years, winning three national championships with the team.
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Greg Mills
COO, Warehouse Cinemas
Greg Mills is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Warehouse Cinemas. A structural engineer by trade, Greg's has a natural inclination toward metrics-driven strategy, deal structuring, financial analysis, and operations. He holds a BS in Engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.
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Michael Weiss
General Manager, Weiss Bros.
Michael Weiss has spent his career in sales, marketing and leadership. He started over 20 years ago as a pharmaceutical sales rep in the Washington DC area and most recently was the President of his family business Weiss Bros. Michael currently is part owner in several businesses including Stash & Co, District, and Transpromotion.
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Paul Frey
CEO, Washington County Chamber of Commerce
×Paul Frey
CEO, Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Paul Frey, IOM, joined the Washington County (Md.) Chamber of Commerce as President and CEO in September 2014. Paul previously worked for the Frederick County Chamber (Md.) of Commerce for four years, first as Vice President and then as Acting President.
After graduating college in 1983, Paul worked for 20 years operating Roy Rogers Restaurants for The Plamondon Companies, an entity specializing in the hospitality industry.
In 2001, Paul founded Clear Path Organization Consulting, a management consulting firm specializing in helping organizations get results. Paul assisted businesses, community organizations, and nonprofit entities in getting results through innovation and accountability. Paul also worked in the franchising field, helping a number of organizations franchise their respective business models.
Paul earned his BS degree from Towson University, his MBA from Mount Saint Mary’s University, and his MS in Organization Development from The Johns Hopkins University. He graduated from the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organizational Management in 2015. In 2018, Paul was recognized as Chamber Executive of the Year by the Maryland Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (MACCE).
Paul was born in Eugene, Oregon, attended kindergarten in Berlin, Germany, and was raised in Frederick, Maryland. Paul has been married to his wife, Laurie, for 39 years. They reside in Smithsburg, Md., and have three married daughters and seven grandchildren.
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Mason Scuderi
President, d’Vinci Interactive
×Mason Scuderi
President, d’Vinci Interactive
A force behind d'Vinci Interactive since 1996, Mason oversees day-to-day operations and leads the d'Vinci team as they produce award winning eLearning, educational websites, learning experiences and web applications. Mason drives d'Vinci processes, efficiency, and impact. He brings over twenty years of experience in educational technology. Mason is a native of Maryland and an alumnus of Shepherd University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in graphic design
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Herb Melrath
Business Consultant, Maryland SBDC, Washington County
×Herb Melrath
Business Consultant, Maryland SBDC, Washington County
Herb joined the Maryland Small Business Development Center as a Business Consultant after running a successful coffee business for 13 years. As part of that success, he enjoyed helping other business owners get started, market, and grow their businesses. Before the coffee business, he worked 20 years in the in-vitro diagnostic industry in various roles from Quality Assurance to Manager of Product Development. Herb has worked with multiple non-profits and organizations in the community. Herb is passionate about helping small businesses succeed and assisting entrepreneurs with bringing their ideas to fruition
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Rhi Combs
Branch Manager, M&T Bank
×Rhi Combs
Branch Manager, M&T Bank
Rhiannon (Rhi) Combs is the Branch Manager at M&T Bank Valley Mall in Hagerstown, MD. She began her career in banking in 2005 as a teller and has worked in various positions within the retail branch. Rhi joined M&T Bank in 2015 as the Branch Manager of the Poolesville, MD office. While in Poolesville she served on the Bord of Directors of the Poolesville Chamber of Commerce and was elected to serve as President in 2018. She also served on the Board of Directors for WUMCO Help, an organization that provides emergency food and financial assistance to families in need. Rhi currently serves as an Ambassador for new members for the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and, is a member of Class 35 Leadership Washington County. Rhi is extremely passionate about promotion of Employee Resource Groups within M&T and currently serves as President of the Women’s Interest Network for the Greater Washington Market. In her free time Rhi enjoys going on camping adventures with her family.
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Tereance Moore
Mentor, SCORE
×Tereance Moore
Mentor, SCORE
Tereance is the owner of Tereance Moore Consulting, LLC, which provides start-up, sustainability, and growth consultations to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, and Tereance Moore Properties which focuses on creating generational wealth through homeownership. Tereance is also a co-founder and Center Director of the nonprofit Mediation First, Inc, which provides free conflict resolution services to the community, courts, schools, prisons, and businesses. He spent nearly two decades in the financial sector working as a Sr. Project Management supporting Client Servicing, Fraud, Risk and Credit Operations, and Technology globally before starting his businesses.
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Randy Berlin
Director of Business Services & Development, Antietam Broadband
×Randy Berlin
Director of Business Services & Development, Antietam Broadband
Randy is the Director of Business Services & Development for Antietam Broadband acting as chief liaison to the area business community. An entrepreneur for 20+ years, Randy was previously the Founder & President of DiscountCall.com, Inc. in Atlanta, GA starting in a 1 bedroom apartment with no outside funding then growing to over 1000+ customers with revenues topping $3M. Randy enjoys helping other entrepreneurs with their goals and aspirations with a concentration in sales and go-to marketing strategy. Before an 8 year minor league baseball career riding buses with a not so healthy diet of fast food, Randy grew up in Rockville, Maryland before attending Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. He moved to Hagerstown after joining Antietam Broadband to be closer to family while enjoying the mountain views and the rural lifestyle that Washington County has to offer.
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John A. Dankulich, Jr.
Director of Dining Services, Hagerstown Community College
×John A. Dankulich, Jr.
Director of Dining Services, Hagerstown Community College
John Dankulich, Director of Dining Services at Hagerstown Community College has more than 32 years in the service industry. Mr. Dankulich managed business units from retail to food service, and from the military to public school dining programs, restaurants, and healthcare. He has proudly cooked for the homeless, our nations generals, and elected officials. He contributes his success to providing good customer service and quality foods, and building strong relationships with employees.
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Sarah Rock
Branch Manager, United Bank
×Sarah Rock
Branch Manager, United Bank
A native to the tri-state area, Sarah Rock is currently employed as a Branch Manager of United Bank in Washington County, MD. Ms. Rock has over 15 years of financial and business experience and has owned and operated the Razor’s Edge barber shop in Hagerstown, MD for the past 10 years.
Ms. Rock is Board President of Habitat for Humanity of Washington County and serves as Secretary of Horizon Goodwill Industries’ Board of Directors.
She lives her life to its fullest potential, accepts challenges and creates opportunities.
During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and cooking.
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Timothy Shanklin
Vice President Sales & Leasing, Tyler Duncan Realty Partners
×Timothy Shanklin
Vice President Sales & Leasing, Tyler Duncan Realty Partners
Tim has rejoined Tyler Duncan Realty Partners specializing in commercial sales and
leasing, with a special focus on tenant representation. Having previously served as Vice
President of Commercial Real Estate at Tyler, Tim brings over 30 years of commercial real
estate experience to the team, from local and national brokerages such as MacKenzie
Commercial Real Estate, Berkshire Hathaway Bowen Realty Commercial Division, Corridor
Resnick Commercial Real Estate, Scheer Partners, and industry giant Transwestern Commercial Services.
Tim is a native of Baltimore having attended Loyola Blakefield and the University of
Maryland College Park obtaining a B.S and a M.S. in a biological, life science discipline. During
that time, Tim was inducted into three national Bioscience scholastic honor societies. During that time earning the M.S. degree, and in the immediate years thereafter, Tim taught multiple courses at University of Maryland University College, University of Maryland Institute of Applied Agriculture as well as Howard County Community College.
Tim is extremely familiar with tenant improvement and base building costs, lease
negotiations and financial analysis on leases and investment properties and is currently
representing many tenants in negotiating for a wide variety of tenant uses including office,
warehouse and biotech lab facilities.
Tim currently serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Maria Goretti High School, a
Catholic, coeducational preparatory school in Hagerstown.
Winner of the ‘Most Creative Deal Award ‘ presented by Frederick County Office of
Economic Development for having represented RoosterBio in their relocation and expansion
into a new lab facility.
Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award 2022 presented by the office of Economic
Development for Frederick County.
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Oluwakayode (Olu) Bamiduro
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Hagerstown Community College
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Olusegun (Victor) Adegboyega-Edun
Assistant Professor, Web & Animation Technology, Hagerstown Community College
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Carmen Fox
AVP/Retail Sales & Service Manager, AmeriServ Financial.
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Austin Colby
President and CEO, Ship Simply
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Dan Thompson
Chief Technology Officer, Ship Simply
Business Involvement
Companies at the Incubator + Labs
The David W. Fletcher Incubator + Labs offer support and space for most companies at the startup and small business phase. Companies currently housed in the incubator range from cybersecurity, biotech, app development, product development to food and service providers.
Background 1
Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.
Peter F. Drucker
Business Investments
Resources available to support business owners as they learn, leverage and launch
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EDUCATION:
- Business Library
- Professional development
- Apprenticeship placement
- Group support circles
- Educational tools for launching + sustaining a business
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INVESTMENT:
- Idea Pitch Challenge
- Business development resources
- Access to angel investors*
- On-site go-to-market assistance
- Shared information for funding your business idea
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT:
- Member Support Fund
- Coding + marketing takeovers
- On-site mentorship
- Business coaching
- Monthly Pit Sessions
- Business strategy sessions
- Go-To-Market consultation
Background 2
The Fletcher Incubator + Labs launches in the most opportune time to be an entrepreneur. We harness the energy and excitement in American society to enhance innovation and accelerate ideas,” said David W. Fletcher Incubator + Labs Director, Justina Shaw. “We welcome all businesses, at any stage, to join our community as we learn, leverage and launch together!
For business startups
Idea Pitch Challenge
Join the Idea Pitch Challenge for a chance to win $5,000, space at the David W. Fletcher Incubator + Labs and additional support to create a business plan, learn how to lead and market your business, connect with business owners in your area, and build your network in your industry.
